#Trending: Kuwaitis ridicule the hike in fuel prices

Kuwaitis took to social media this week to mock a hike in petrol prices expected to hit the country in September, with #rising_petrol_prices trending on Twitter.

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04 Aug, 2016

The price of the environmentally friendly low-emission petrol will rise by 83 percent [AFP]

Kuwaitis took to social media this week to criticise a hike in petrol prices, after their government announced on Monday a rise of more than 40 percent will hit fuel prices in September.

In a statement issued after the weekly cabinet meeting on Monday, the government said the price of low octane petrol will rise by 41 percent, to 28 US cents a litre, while high grade petrol will increase by 61 percent to 35 cents.

The price of environmentally friendly low-emission "ultra" petrol is also set to rise by 83 percent, to 55 cents a litre.

The sharp increase in the OPEC country, where people once enjoyed heavily subsidised petrol prices, has led social media users to ridicule the government decision as the hashtag gained traction on Twitter.

[Translation: My new car after the rise in oil prices..Do not forget the seatbelt! #rising_petrol_prices]

[Translation: I just got to work and managed to park my new ride in the car park #rising_petrol_prices]

[Translation: For the first time ever all Kuwaiti papers can agree on one striking headline #rising_petrol_prices]

One user shared a video showing a before and after petrol price hikes clip.

Kuwait is the last country among the energy-rich Gulf Cooperation Council states to increase the price of petrol.

Other GCC states, including Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, have either completely liberalised fuel prices or raised them substantially because of the sharp fall in oil income since mid-2014.